A B.C. Supreme Court justice has upheld an assault conviction against a North Vancouver binner, despite an outburst from a judge who called him a "terrible liar" partway through his trial.
Kyu Moon Lee was found guilty of assault and handed a suspended sentence on June 29 for punching a woman who confronted him as he went through recycling bins in her North Vancouver townhouse complex.
During the trial, the woman said she knew Lee because he had been around her townhouse before collecting bottles and cans from the recycling bins. She said he'd been warned not come on to private property to pick out the recyclables.
On the night in question, Aug. 11, 2010, the woman said she confronted Lee after he started dumping out the bins and leaving what he didn't want lying in the road - including broken glass.
The woman said in response Lee spat at her, swore at her, then punched her through the open driver's side window of his van, connecting with his closed fist.
In his own testimony, Lee denied that he swore at, spat on or punched the woman. He also told the judge he didn't know he was breaking municipal laws by going through the recycling bins, although he acknowledged he had received over 20 tickets for similar actions in the past. He also denied knowing he was on private property, telling the judge he couldn't read English.
That prompted the judge to tell him, "Oh, Mr. Lee. You're really stretching things here. You're a terrible liar."
In his appeal, Lee sought to have his conviction tossed out on the grounds the judge had deprived him of the right to be presumed innocent "by interrupting his testimony to label him a liar."
But Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan said in his decision that "true impartiality does not require that the judge have not sympathies or opinions."
McEwan said most reasonable people would conclude the judge was "impatient" rather than "biased."
